Letter to the editor: Moffat looking forward to good year

Posted Aug 23, 2017

The first day of school at the Moffat School was Monday, August 14th. During the first week of school, students participated in elementary and secondary assemblies to review school-wide policies and have a little fun with a grade level, ring toss competition. Overall, administration and staff have been quite impressed with student’s respect and ownership over the school-wide policies. We can tell that it is going to be a great year.

Enrollment is up quite a bit this year with approximately 30 new students! We have been working through some daily procedures to ensure that things flow smoothly, instructional time is maximized and safety remains a top priority for our students.

One of our goals before the start of the school year was to provide our students with more elective opportunities. Andy McKim, the former art teacher, has moved out of the area with his family. He will be missed, but we are happy to report that Patte and Dale Smith are taking over the art program with a great deal of enthusiasm and passion for making a difference in the lives of our students. In addition to art, other electives include drama, music, yearbook, Spanish III, mentorships in different areas of our building and shop. While we are pleased with the addition of a few elective opportunities for our students, this is an area that we are continuing to focus our attention as we work towards providing an even wider variety of electives in the future.

We continue to provide iPads to every student in our middle school and high school. Zach Schwartz, our technology and assessment director, has been working around the clock to get each student in grades 6 through 12 set up with their iPad for the school year. Ipads for fourth and fifth graders are being ordered.

Our elementary classes hit the ground running during the first week of school. Teachers have been working hard to create welcoming learning environments for our youngest students. Formative literacy assessments are well under way, and we are excited to watch the growth of these students throughout the school year.

It’s going to be a great year. There is a feeling of excitement and optimism resonating throughout our building, and it is going to be exciting to watch how our students grow academically and continue to develop character throughout this school year.